It was 45 years ago at the 1977 Geneva Motor Show that Porsche officially presented the 928, its first roadgoing V8-powered car. Despite being something very unconventional for the brand, it was still special and won the European Car of the Year award. It was the first and only sports car to date to earn the accolade and sold over 61,000 units worldwide. Although the V8 engine may seem like something of a footnote in Porsche's rich history, it has proven to be an astonishingly good purveyor of success in both sales and sporting achievements. Thus, Porsche has seen fit to celebrate Valentine's Day with a love letter to the eight-cylinder engine.

Following on from the 928, the V8 engine saw remarkable success in motorsport through vehicles like the Cayenne S, which competed in the Transsyberia Rally, and the RS Spyder that took class victories at Sebring and Le Mans. It also took an amazing outright victory at the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring, which is especially noteworthy since Porsche engineers designed that car's 3.4-liter V8 "completely from scratch." The RS Spyder is also credited with the eventual arrival of the 918 Spyder, a hypercar that combined a high-revving, free-breathing V8 with an electric motor. Similar technology has since been applied to both the Cayenne and the Panamera.

At present, Porsche offers V8 power in the Panamera GTS, Turbo S, and Turbo S E-Hybrid. Cayenne models that benefit include the GTS, Turbo, Turbo S E-Hybrid, and the Turbo GT. The latter is a recent addition that took the SUV lap record at the Nurburgring's Nordschleife with a time of 7:38.9, but that's not the last V8 from Porsche. Its LMDh entrant will also utilize hybrid V8 power in endurance racing, and since Porsche is still working on developing synthetic fuels for mainstream cars, it's not quite time to say goodbye to the V8 just yet. Here's hoping that the LMDh prototype will lead to a 918 successor, but in the meantime, we're just grateful that Porsche didn't overlook the V8. Without this unconventional layout, some of the marque's finest creations may never have seen the light of day.